At this point in her career, Jackie Collins is as much a brand as an author. Readers come to her books expecting sex, glamour, and a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and that's precisely what her newest delivers. Collins introduces a half-dozen couples she scarcely needs to develop as characters a Russian oligarch, his supermodel girlfriend, and a George Clooney doppelganger with his arm-candy-of-the-month are familiar types ripped straight from the pages of People magazine. Yes, they're a shallow, pampered lot, which is what makes them so much fun, though a few, most notably Luca, the gay Latino singing sensation, demonstrate surprising sensitivity. The tenuously connected group gathers for a cruise on a luxury yacht, a pretext that allows for much display of gorgeous bikinied bodies and provides the perfect claustrophobic setting to either bring lovers closer together or drive them apart. To this romantic intrigue, Collins adds a hijacking plot so that the final act reads like an action movie, complete with high-speed boat chases and Somali pirates. Classic Collins at her best. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With some 500 million books sold, blockbuster-queen Collins will add another best-seller to her list of 29 as this hot novel is touted via an enormous national multimedia blitz and author appearances.--Wetli, Patty Copyright 2010 Booklist

A famous actor, athlete, journalist, politician, pop star, and their not-so-famous guests receive uber-exclusive invitations to join a supermodel and her Russian billionaire boyfriend on his yacht's maiden voyage for lots of luxurious R&R. Alas, the guests and crew end up in peril owing to a vengeful mobster's unfinished business with the Russian. Verdict Starting with a bang, best-selling author Collins's latest potboiler gives readers a break from winter with a steamy soap opera set on the Sea of Cortez. Like an episode of the cheesy but popular 1970s TV series The Love Boat, there is lots of romantic drama on the tropical waters, but readers familiar with Collins know to expect plenty of X-rated scenes. They also know to expect brief chapters that keep the story moving at a brisk pace, characters that strongly resemble real celebrities, and lots of surprises. Collins more than delivers on all fronts. "Bonkbuster" fans will love it. [See Prepub Alert, 8/16/12.]-Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A birthday cruise on the Sea of Cortez with some of the most beautiful people in the world is threatened first by personal intrigues and then by pirates. Life in the fast lane has hit the open seas. Collins (Goddess of Vengeance, 2011, etc.) returns with an impossibly glamorous cast vacationing on the Bianca, a yacht named for billionaire Russian businessman Aleksandr Kasianenko's mistress. Accompanying Aleksandr and supermodel Bianca are five other couples, all thinly disguised variations on real celebrities. Taye Sherwin, a U.K. soccer phenom, arrives with his interior designer wife, Ashley, who has forgiven but not forgotten Taye's infidelity. Cliff Baxter, commitment-phobic movie star, brings his girlfriend, Lori. Sinister Senator Hammond Patterson escorts his unhappy wife, Sierra, who hides his clandestine affairs behind her perfect politician's-wife facade. Luca Perez, Latin pop star, escorts his insufferably self-centered British boyfriend, Jeromy. And Flynn, jaded journalist, invites his enigmatic friend, Xuan, who once smuggled herself out of communist China and now chronicles injustices. But everyone has secrets, and one of Aleksandr's secrets has snagged in the mind of Russian mobster Sergei Zukov. Fairly obsessed with their own sexual hijinks and power bids, the couples are taken quite by surprise when pirates, aided by a mole onboard, invade the yacht. Yet, even the pirates have troubles, including a wayward girlfriend, conflicting plans and a tropical storm. Intrigue, scandal, rape and tragic (or not-so-tragic) deaths ensue. After the dust settles, a series of epilogues too neatly ties off the loose ends. The queen of chronicling the lives of the jet set, Collins toggles rapidly between plotlines, keeping the action moving and the sex abundant. Glitzy and exciting.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This latest steamy tale from Collins centers on a luxurious cruise featuring an elite group of men and women from the realms of politics, business, entertainment, and sports who must face both their own scandals and the threat of an international band of pirates. The full cast-led by Collins herself-certainly brings vocal talent to the production, offering a broad range of performance styles. As the voices and accents for characters shift with each narrator, this variety will either prove energizing or dizzying, depending on the listener's taste. In the case of one particularly despicable villain-the sexually reckless Senator Hammond Patterson-it is interesting to hear the narrators' different renderings. Collins's performance captures the titillating tone of her own brand nicely, setting the stage for the rest of the cast to apply their craft as the storyline unfolds. Porter and Graham shine as they tackle the range of emotions and larger-than-life personalities. A St. Martin's hardcover. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.